wriggle
Americanverb (used without object)
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wriggles,
present (3rd person singular)
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wriggled,
past participle, past
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wriggling
present participle
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to twist to and fro; writhe; squirm.
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to move along by twisting and turning the body, as a worm or snake.
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to make one's way by shifts or expedients (often followed byout ).
to wriggle out of a difficulty.
verb (used with object)
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wriggles,
present (3rd person singular)
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wriggled,
past participle, past
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wriggling
present participle
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to cause to wriggle.
to wriggle one's hips.
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to bring, get, make, etc., by wriggling.
to wriggle one's way through a narrow opening.
noun
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wriggles
plural
verb
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to make or cause to make twisting movements
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(intr) to progress by twisting and turning
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(intr; foll by into or out of) to manoeuvre oneself by clever or devious means
wriggle out of an embarrassing situation
noun
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a wriggling movement or action
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a sinuous marking or course
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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wrigglernoun
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outwriggleverb (used with object)
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unwriggledadjective
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wrigglyadjective
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wrigglinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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wrigglesimple
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wrigglessimple
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have wriggledperfect
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has wriggledperfect
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am wrigglingprogressive
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are wrigglingprogressive
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is wrigglingprogressive
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have been wrigglingperfect progressive
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has been wrigglingperfect progressive
Past
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wriggledsimple
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had wriggledperfect
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was wrigglingprogressive
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were wrigglingprogressive
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had been wrigglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of wriggle
1485–95; < Middle Low German wriggelen (cognate with Dutch wriggelen ), frequentative of *wriggen to twist, turn, akin to Old English wrīgian to twist; see wry
Explanation
To wriggle is to squirm and twist quickly. Think of how hard it is to hold a rambunctious puppy as it wriggles in your arms. Wriggle sounds a lot like wiggle, and the two words very nearly mean the same thing. There is a subtle difference, though: when you wriggle, you twist, turn, or bend as you move. When you wiggle, you make more of a back-and-forth motion. In fact, these two near-homonyms have completely different etymological sources. While wiggle stems from a Germanic root meaning "cradle," wriggle's root means "to turn or bend."
Vocabulary lists containing wriggle
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The bill’s backers are hopeful it will wriggle through this legislative session and land on the governor’s desk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
When it comes to snake handlers, you must prepare for tales that wriggle free of containment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
The central midfielder is Panama's tempo setter and creative spark, working tirelessly in and out of possession and showcasing an impressive ability to wriggle out of tight spaces and drive the team upfield.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
That’s exactly how the world’s villains want us to be: angry and afraid, trying to wriggle free from the spider’s web while they laugh and plot our demise.
From Salon ● May 19, 2026
He yelled at the animals and they dropped the meat and proceeded to wriggle under the fence after Nhamo.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
It wriggles back into the streets aiming for friends, tunes, food.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
As her three-year-old daughter wriggles on her lap and plays with her mother's hair, Rebecca gives an honest assessment of what dealing with poverty means for her.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026
She wriggles her nose, rolls her eyes and turns her face to the side, trying not to completely cast me off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2024
When a nematode wriggles around a petri dish, what’s going on inside a tiny roundworm’s even tinier brain?
From Scientific American ● Aug. 21, 2023
Caleb wriggles for a second, but he is not half as strong as Tobias and can’t break away.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
Having gazed at it onscreen dozens of times, including in the hyper-crisp 16K resolution of the Sphere, this in-person viewing was the first time I realized how Bert Lahr wriggled it on.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Forty years ago in February, Jackson wriggled free of her father Joe Jackson’s stifling management with the release of “Control.”
From Salon ● Apr. 11, 2026
James Justin wriggled free inside the Forest area and when his shot was saved by Ortega, he had the presence of mind to square the rebound to Okafor, who slotted home from 10 yards.
From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026
She said she slipped his grip, wriggled free and got away.”
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2025
Jack wriggled around in the ice water like a baby otter, trying to cover as much of his body as possible.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
It takes a big collective effort of a dozen or more people to drag the wriggling mass of snapper, mackerel, barracuda, rays, and many more fish besides, onto the beach.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
“Before you know it, white worms are wriggling and swarming in every garbage bag and along the walls and floors and underlids of every trash can.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Rolling off the bed in a silicon sleep cocoon, Grace gradually evolves from a wriggling larval stage into a fully upright, walking and talking smarty-pants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
The towering striker is technically gifted - comfortable wriggling it out of tight spaces and linking play - and has even been nicknamed 'Woltemessi' by Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2025
As he did, all the rubble and chaos sorted itself, the dust and debris jumping and wriggling.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
